File:Pete-Venters-Binder-Painting.jpg

Summary

Painting by Pete Venters, 1994, Collection "Five (and a bit) colors of Magic".
Cover of Pete Venters' binder

Set the waaaay back machine to 1994. Many of you will be horrified to be reminded that was 19 years ago. I know I am.

I’d just finished the artwork for Antiquities, Legends and The Dark and the original art director of Magic – Jesper Myrfors – asked me if I’d like to do the cover illustration for the first official Magic: The Gathering card binder. Of course, I jumped at the chance.

The concept was simple: paint a wizard playing Magic and have him surrounded by creatures from all five colors of mana. Okay, easy enough…

I wanted the wizard to have no mana bias so I had him playing an artifact. Bonus: it meant I got to paint the Stuffy Doll!

I remember struggling with the piece at the time. I was still pretty new to painting and making all the different elements work together while meeting the deadline was a tough undertaking. Here’s a little trivia about the piece

• This was the first and only time I got to paint an angel on an official WotC product.
• This was the first time I painted goblins.
• The card backs were the hardest part because I’m fussy about little details like that.

The piece is a fun bit of history for me but it also shows I was still trying to find my feet with painting. Take a look at the wizard’s hands and arms to see the iffy attempt at blending, let alone whatever’s going on with the Serra Angel’s forehead!

To me, the painting’s greatest significance is as the catalyst for a larger project. [...]

— The 5 (and a bit) Colors of Magic – Prologue (1994)^[1], by Pete Venters on September 9, 2013

Licensing

This image is copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). This file is an icon, artwork, or game graphic of Magic: The Gathering or one of its online properties which is copyrighted by WotC. Though this media is subject to copyright, it is believed that its use qualifies as fair use under U.S. fair use laws when used on MTG Wiki, hosted on servers in the United States by Scryfall.

References